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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29878581">Get Some Sleep, I'll Take the Night Shift</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/theatretechlesbian/pseuds/theatretechlesbian'>theatretechlesbian</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The Magnus Archives (Podcast)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>But Mostly Comfort, Cuddling &amp; Snuggling, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Nightmares, Nonbinary Jonathan "Jon" Sims | The Archivist, Panic Attacks, Set in Episodes 159-160 | Scottish Safehouse Period (The Magnus Archives), They/Them Pronouns for Jonathan "Jon" Sims | The Archivist, kind of, literally just Jon waking up from a nightmare and Martin comforting them</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-03-06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-03-06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-16 02:48:44</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>794</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29878581</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/theatretechlesbian/pseuds/theatretechlesbian</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>"Martin had been quite a heavy sleeper before he started work at the Institute, but nightmares of worms and rolling fog had changed that. If he wasn't having a nightmare himself, he was now easily awoken by Jon's choked out screams and quick breaths. As was such on this very cold night."</p><p>Or, Jon wakes up from a nightmare in the midst of a panic attack, and Martin helps calm them down.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Jonathan Sims/Martin Blackwood</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>9</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>103</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Get Some Sleep, I'll Take the Night Shift</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>TW:<br/>Nightmares<br/>Panic Attacks</p><p>Full Content Warnings in the End Notes</p><p>Title from 'nightmares' by Easy Life<br/>(subtle, i know)</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Martin had been quite a heavy sleeper before he started work at the Institute, but nightmares of worms and rolling fog had changed that. If he wasn't having a nightmare himself, he was now easily awoken by Jon's choked out screams and quick breaths. As was such on this very cold night.</p><p>Martin had startled awake, adrenaline coursing through his blood before he identified the noise as Jon hyperventilating. He turned over, rubbing his eyes to alleviate the blurriness. He almost wished he hadn't. <br/>
Jon was curled in a ball in the space next to him, shoulders shaking and with tears flowing from open eyes. Their knees were held tight to their chest, and their eyes were unfocused, staring blankly at a spot on the wall. It was a sight Martin had unfortunately seen before, too many times. </p><p>"Jon? Are you with me?" he whispered, not wanting to shock them. The lack of acknowledgement worried Martin, it always did. He placed a tentative hand on Jon's arm. They looked up at him, panic on their face. <br/>
He couldn't stop the ugly mess of emotions that ran through his mind every time Jon looked at him like that. They weren't scared of him (the notion that a semi-eldritch being could be afraid of someone like Martin was damn near laughable), but the way their eyes fixated on a point, seemingly too scared to look away, filled him with fear and anger. </p><p>Martin's veritable cocktail of second-hand emotions wasn't the issue right now though. Getting Jon to actually take some oxygen in their lungs? That seemed a bit more pressing.</p><p>"Can you sit up for me please, love?" It took a second to get through, but before Martin could talk again, Jon was shifting slowly, using a single shaky arm proper themselves up. They were still hunched over, as close to a fetal position as they could get, but at least breathing would be easier now.<br/>
Martin held out his hand, and Jon took it, grabbing it with a force that later on they would probably (and needlessly) apologise for. "I need you to take deep breaths, try breathing with me, in and out."</p><p>He started to count, intervals of four and seven and eight, rubbing his thumb gently against Jon's hand with every shuddering sob. <br/>
He didn't stop counting for a while, not until Jon's breathing was even, and their shoulders were beginning to fall. The grip on Martin's hand had lessened, and the panic-attack fueled fog had lifted from Jon's eyes. </p><p> </p><p>As much as it was an instinct, Martin avoided asking the question <em>are you alright?</em>, as he'd quickly learnt that Jon would rarely say 'no'. That, and the fact that it seemed to put a pressure on them, a pressure to just say 'I'm fine' and repress everything that just happened. So instead, he held out his arms, an offer of contact that Jon knew they could accept or reject with no hard feelings. <br/>
(They'd discussed this before. Holding their hand was fine, but sometimes everything else would just be too much.)</p><p>On this occasion, Martin had barely moved before Jon scrambled towards him, clinging on and burying their head into his shoulder. Martin wrapped his arms around Jon, running one hand up and down their side, trying to ignore how their rib cage gave way sooner than expected.</p><p>He looked down at his boyfriend (still pretending that he didn't get butterflies every time that thought crossed his mind), and with a whispered question and a small nod, tugged the already-loose hair tie out of Jon's hair. It'd been brushed before bed, but nevertheless, Martin was careful as he ran his fingers through, gently splitting up any tangles he came across. The tension across Jon's body began to fall away, and Martin could feel them somehow sinking closer toward him. </p><p> </p><p>If he could stay like that forever, Martin would. Jon in his arms, their breath tickling at his neck. However, the human spine was not quite built that way. As he went to move however, the lack of co-operation from Jon made him realise that they were asleep. Endearing, but not entirely practical. He disentangled himself, lowering Jon onto the bed, and only almost laughing at the sleepy grunt of protest he received. He pulled the quilt over them both, and let the ambiguity of sleep claim him.</p><p> </p><p>(They would wake late the next morning, and discuss the night before at the kitchen table, hands clasped around a mug of tea. Jon might explain what the nightmare was, or they might not. That was not what mattered though. What mattered was that whatever pain Jon felt, Martin was right there with them, and would never stop doing his best to take it away.)</p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>CW:<br/>Nightmares- no actual description of the nightmare Jon experiences, but the aftermath is shown and they are mentioned to be common<br/>Panic Attacks - Jon has a panic attack, mostly shown through quick breathing and crying.</p><p>Also hi if u like magnus (or welcome to nightvale!) can i recommend that you check out Spirit Box Radio podcast!!! It's only a baby podcast but its so good and deserves more love!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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